School Cheers 5th Straight Academic Decathlon Win

There was clapping, cheering and speeches. The band played the Village People’s “YMCA.” Trophies and medals shimmered in the sun. Just another day at El Camino Real High School.

For the fifth straight year, the Woodland Hills school finished first in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s academic decathlon. It now advances to the state competition next month.

“We did it,” said Christian Cerone, one of the team’s coaches, during a lunchtime celebration Thursday.

Unlike previous years, no one had expected El Camino to win.

Cerone is one of two new decathlon coaches who took over the team this year from veterans who helped El Camino Real win the national crown in 1998.

“People kept telling us not to feel down if we didn’t do well our first year,” said Cerone. “I was sort of resigned to doing fair.”

Jeana Jorgensen, 17, said her fellow team members also believed they were underdogs in the competition earlier this month. “We found out we won and we all jumped and screamed,” she said. “It was just mass chaos. We didn’t expect it.”

During the academic decathlon, students deliver speeches, write essays and take tests in math, literature, music, social studies, art and economics. They also answer questions on the environment in the Super Quiz event.

On Thursday, students snacked on Oreos, Doritos and Snickers while cheering for the decathletes. They howled and high-fived one another when Principal Ronald Bauer praised the young scholars for “upholding the ECR tradition.”

Despite the hoopla, the decathletes said they are bracing to study more than 50 hours a week until the state competition begins March 17.

They will face local rivals Los Angeles High School, Palisades Charter, Marshall and San Pedro high schools.

Also competing from Los Angeles County will be Rowland High School in Rowland Heights, and Palos Verdes Peninsula, Burbank and Beverly Hills high schools. Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, which won the private school division, will also be at the state finals.